Thanks Sweaner for the link to that article. I couldn't find the plug in the article, so I plugged the piece with JB-Weld and the machine is now working.
In the mean time I have been reading a lot of material on this forum and realize that I am missing out on the true flavor of espresso with my inferior machine. I have learned that I really don't know much about how to really make a good espresso. Thanks everyone for the education so far and I look forward to learning more.




